A continuing problem in the current modern world of telephony communications is receiving unwanted calls. Existing solutions, such as national “do not call” registries, prevent unwanted calls from being presented to the recipient. That is, the call is blocked in the network, and the recipient is unaware of the attempted call. In addition, “do not call” registries require users to “opt in” to the registry, and calling control is at the source (origination) of the call.
Another existing solution is creating “contact groups”, where a received call from any member of a contact group of callers is handled according to a configuration for that contact group. This technique requires that every desired contact is entered into the appropriate contact groups, and every new contact must also be added to all of the appropriate contact groups to achieve a desired configuration and call behavior.
There is therefore a need for a more seamless system and method to provide notification and handling of unwanted calls without disturbing the recipient.